The 311 on Food Stamps: What You Need To Know

January 18, 2012 at 4:00 am

It’s an undeniable fact that millions of New Yorkers are hungry and need assistance to feed their families. More than 3 million a month, to be exact. Demand has increased, too. In July, the city’s Human Resources Administration hired 100 workers to deal with the influx of New Yorkers applying for food stamps and rent-assistance, and plans to hire 100 more, reported the Daily News.

“One of the things we do now and makes the stigma actually worse and creates a barrier for families coming forward to get food stamps is we require fingerprinting. I’m saying stop fingerprinting for families,” said Cuomo.

Spurred on by the strong opinions and the money at stake — Cuom’s 2012 budget includes an additional $1 million for the state Nutrition Outreach and Education Program, a food stamp program — MetroFocus decided to take a look at the issue of food stamps in New York. Here’s what you should know:

Q: How many people in New York receive food stamps?

A: According to the state office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, 3,046,972 individuals received food stamps statewide in November of 2011. In New York City, 1,819,653 individuals got food stamps that same month.

The number of recipients has grown by nearly 33 percent — or 1 million people — since November 2008, according to data from the Temporary and Disability Assistance office.

Q: Who gets food stamps?

A: Food stamps are awarded based on need to individuals, families, senior citizens and the disabled. Eligible households can receive benefits from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) if they fall into a lower-wage income bracket. For example, a single individual with no dependents and an annual gross income of $14,160 or less is eligible for food stamp benefits. For more info, see New York’s Temporary and Disability Assistance website.

New York City is the only municipality in the state that requires food stamp recipients to be fingerprinted. Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to change that. MetroFocus/Kevon Greene

Q: What’s the deal with fingerprinting for food stamps?

A: The practice of the state requiring fingerprints for food stamp recipients was abolished in 2007by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, but New York City maintained the practice. Arizona is the only other place in the U.S. that requires fingerprinting for food stamps. Bloomberg says fingerprinting is imperative to prevent fraud and protect taxpayer dollars. People “game the system,” Bloomberg told the New York Times, by double-dipping and receiving benefits twice.In a “Letter to the Editor” also published in the Times, the commissioner of New York City’s Human Resources Administration, Robert Doar, said catching potential duplicate benefits before they were issued saved taxpayers $5 million in the last year.

But Cuomo says fingerprinting is a deterrent to potential food stamp recipients. He believes 30 percent more hungry New Yorkers would get food stamps if fingerprinting were not a requirement.

Q: Where do the 2013 mayoral election candidates stand on fingerprinting?

A: All the candidates running to be the next mayor of New York City oppose Bloomberg’s fingerprinting policy — including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the frontrunner and candidate with the closest ties to Bloomberg.

“Mayor Bloomberg and I couldn’t disagree more — fingerprinting food stamp applicants is a time-consuming and unnecessary process, which stigmatizes applicants and has prevented 24,000 New Yorkers from getting the help they deserve,” said Quinn in a statement. “The mayor should not even think of challenging Governor Cuomo’s decision.”

A: Although specific numbers aren’t available on what kinds of stores (grocery stores, delis, corner markets…) see the most food stamps in New York, we do know that the number of people using them at Greenmarkets and farmer’s markets around the city grew by nearly 25 percent in 2011.

Funders

MetroFocus is made possible by James and Merryl Tisch, the Anderson Family Fund, Judy and Josh Weston, Bernard and Irene Schwartz, the Sylvia A. and Simon B. Poyta Programming Endowment to Fight Anti-Semitism, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, the Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family, The Dorothy Schiff Endowment for News and Public Affairs Programming, Jody and John Arnhold, Rosalind P. Walter, Ellen and James S. Marcus, the Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation, Laura and Jim Ross.